Technical Carbon Markets Consultant

Technical Carbon Markets Consultant

Application Deadline: 5 December 2025

Department: Carbon

Employment Type: Contract / Temp

Location: Africa

Reporting To: Carbon Markets Lead (or designated project lead)

Description Allied Talent Partners (ATP), a Three Cairns Group initiative, is a mission-driven, not-for-profit talent marketplace focused on solving the human capital bottlenecks slowing down sustainable development efforts in emerging economies, with an initial focus on Africa.  ATP connects vetted, experienced, context-relevant professionals to high-impact opportunities in energy access and sustainable development – strengthening local capacity and fuelling economic vitality. We specialize in fixed-term, deliverable-driven engagements – from interim leadership and generalist projects to niche technical expertise – handling project scoping, talent vetting and matching, contracting, payroll, and compliance so that our clients can focus on impact.

High-Level Overview

Project:
We are supporting one of our client onboard a Technical Carbon Markets Consultant to provide expert, on-demand advisory and analytical support across technical, regulatory, commercial, and financial dimensions of its carbon markets initiatives. The consultant will assess project opportunities, review financial models, evaluate agreements, and contribute to the structuring of innovative financing solutions. 

The ideal consultant combines deep knowledge of carbon markets and project methodologies with practical experience in financial modelling, regulatory processes, and blended finance. They will provide actionable insights to support investment decisions and strengthen the design and delivery of carbon-linked instruments. 

Role and Responsibilities
Role: Technical Carbon Markets Consultant
Direct Report: Carbon Markets Lead (or designated project lead)
Candidates Required:  1

Key Deliverables: 

Project Assessment & Risk Analysis – Conduct due diligence on identified projects and provide holistic viability view, including:

• Review of technical design, additionality, permanence, leakage, legal alignement, robust MRV and co-benefits 
• Assessment of commercial viability and scalability. 
• Identification of key technical, regulatory, commercial, and counterparty risks with mitigation recommendations. 

Regulatory & Policy Review

• Assess applicable national and international regulatory requirements (Article 6 approvals, host country authorisations, benefit-sharing frameworks, registry requirements). 
• Advise on likely timelines, sequencing, and key dependencies for regulatory approvals. 
• Identify potential policy risks (e.g. moratoria, rule changes) and recommend engagement strategies with DNAs and government stakeholders. 

Delivery Pathway & Dependencies – Advise on the ease and feasibility of actual project implementation, including:

• Key milestones (project registration, validation, verification, credit issuance). 
• Dependencies such as land tenure, community agreements, or offtake commitments. 
• Realistic delivery timelines and critical path items. 
• Flag bottlenecks that could delay credit issuance or revenue realisation, allowing for more accurate financial modelling. 

Financial Modelling & Analysis

• Develop or review project and portfolio financial models, ensuring: 
• Realistic forecasts of carbon credit generation and issuance schedules. 
• Market-aligned assumptions for prices, costs, discount rates, and verification cycles. 
• Sensitivity and scenario analyses to inform structuring and risk assessment. 
• Aggregate project data into portfolio-level models where needed for financial instrument design. 

Funding Options & Structuring Advisory

• Analyse funding requirements for each project stage (feasibility, development, construction, operations) and recommend appropriate instruments (grants, concessional finance, guarantees, equity, debt). 
• Advise on structuring solutions such as results-based finance, carbon revenue securitisation, carbon-linked bonds, and blended finance stacks. 
• Map potential sources of capital – including local financial institutions (banks, pension funds, insurers), development finance institutions, impact investors, and corporates. 
• Recommend strategies to de-risk participation of local capital (e.g. first-loss tranches, partial credit guarantees, revenue floors). 
• Identify opportunities to leverage carbon revenues to unlock additional climate finance (green bonds, adaptation-linked instruments). 
• Provide input on aligning financing structures with host country climate strategies, benefit-sharing frameworks, and NDC commitments. 

Review of Technical, Legal & Commercial Agreements

• Review ERPAs, benefit-sharing agreements, term sheets, and partnership agreements. 
• Ensure alignment between contractual terms, financial assumptions, and delivery milestones. 
• Highlight gaps, risks, and negotiation points. 

Investment Committee (IC) & Board Support

• Prepare and input into IC/Board papers and presentations, including risk matrices, sensitivities, and delivery timelines; ensuring materials are decision-ready and highlight key risks and mitigations clearly. 
• Join IC meetings as a subject-matter expert where required. 

Market & Strategic Advisory

• Provide insights on pricing benchmarks, methodology updates, and regulatory trends. 
• Recommend adjustments to structuring approaches or project prioritisation based on market shifts. 
• Provide insights on emerging climate finance opportunities and recommend how the Client can position its carbon initiatives to attract innovative finance (domestic and international). 
• Share lessons learned to build institutional knowledge. 

Targeted Pipeline Generation (Where Required)

• Support sourcing and validation of projects required to anchor specific financial instruments. 
• Apply eligibility criteria to select projects with the right scale, credit type, geography, and risk profile. 
• Provide gap analysis where pipeline volume or credit profile does not meet instrument design requirements. 

Key outputs

• Holistic Project Assessment Notes – including technical, financial, regulatory, and delivery pathway analysis with risk mitigation measures. 
• Regulatory & Policy Briefs – summary of host country requirements, steps, and timelines for approvals. 
• Financial Models / Portfolio Models – with clearly documented assumptions, sensitivities, and stress tests. 
• Funding & Structuring Options Memo – outlining potential financing structures, capital sources, and recommended de-risking mechanisms. 
• Local Capital Mobilisation Plan – identifying opportunities and barriers to mobilising domestic capital and proposing solutions (e.g. credit enhancements, aggregation platforms, capacity-building needs). 
• Agreement Review Notes – detailed comments on technical, legal, and commercial terms. 
• IC/Board Inputs – decision-ready memos, slides, and risk matrices incorporating delivery timelines and dependencies. 
• Market Intelligence Notes – updates on pricing, methodologies, and policy trends. 
• Targeted Pipeline Summary (if required) – list of eligible projects for financial instrument design with key metrics and gap analysis. 

Requirements Experience Required:

• Minimum 10 years' relevant experience in carbon markets, climate finance, or project finance. 
  
• Demonstrated track record supporting investment or IC/Board-level decision processes with risk and sensitivity analyses. 
  
• Proven experience advising on project structuring, risk allocation, and financial or contractual negotiation. 
  
• Experience engaging with host-country authorities, DNAs, or regulators on carbon-market or climate-finance transactions. 
  
• Prior advisory experience with DFIs, climate funds, or development institutions is advantageous.

Technical Requirements:

• Deep understanding of carbon markets — voluntary, Article 6, and CORSIA — and of integrity frameworks such as VCMI and ICVCM. 
• Familiarity with nature-based and technology-based carbon project methodologies. 
• Strong grasp of MRV systems, registry processes, and linkages between project-level activities and NDC implementation. 
• Competence in developing and reviewing financial models for carbon or infrastructure projects, including sensitivity and scenario analysis. 
• Understanding of blended-finance mechanisms, portfolio aggregation, and instruments linking carbon revenues with broader climate-finance structures. 
• Ability to interpret ERPAs, benefit-sharing frameworks, and term sheets from both financial and legal perspectives. 
• Working knowledge of local financial-market instruments (e.g. local-currency bonds, guarantees, and credit-enhancement tools).

Other Skills:

• Analytical and structured thinker with exceptional written and verbal communication skills. 
• Collaborative and proactive, comfortable working across multidisciplinary teams and institutional boundaries. 
• Strong judgment, with ability to integrate technical, regulatory, and commercial inputs into clear recommendations. 
• Highly organised, responsive, and able to prioritise in a dynamic, multi-project environment. 
• Commitment to knowledge-sharing and institutional capacity-building. 

Working Arrangement
Location: Remote (occasional travel for workshops or site visits)
Travel: 1–2 days per week on a six-month renewable retainer.(allocated flexibly based on project pipeline)

Terms of agreement:
Start Date: November 2025 
Contracting Period: 6 months (renewable)

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